>> Reporting from Madison. I'm Zac Schultz for "Here&
Now". >> Harkening back to the
Marquette poll, when asked which is more important, a
majority of registered voters at 58%, say they are
more concerned about property taxes, while 41%
are more concerned about funding for K-12 public
schools. This is voter sentiment as residents
recoil over hikes in property taxes that largely
go to fund schools, and the April 7th ballots will see
more than 70 school referendum questions
seeking additional funding from taxpayers. The squeeze
is the result of an increase in per pupil
revenue limits, without accompanying state funding
and underfunded costs of special education, but some
districts want residents to see what else is
contributing to the cost. Private voucher schools
green Bay is the first municipality in the state
to show those costs on residents property tax
bills. Mayor Eric Genrich was the tie breaking vote
to show that line item on the bills. And mayor,
thanks very much for being here.
>> Of course. Thanks so much for having me.
>> So there's a lot to unpack here with all of
this, but what has been the reaction in green Bay of
people's property tax bills this year?
>> Well, you know, I think we're feeling the crunch
like everyone is across the state of Wisconsin, not
just with property taxes, but just the cost of living
generally. And I think that's why we're seeing
some of those answers that you were highlighting
through the Marquette Law Poll. People are really
struggling with the cost of living these days, and
property taxes are a pretty big number, and they're
really tangible and people see those annually. And so
we're certainly feeling that feedback as well. You
know what we've advocated for both for public
education, but more specifically with municipal
government funding, is more assistance from the state
of Wisconsin. We've made some progress in that
regard with some reforms made to to the shared
revenue program, but we'd love a more diversified
revenue stream with local sales tax options being
available to, to pull down those property taxes, which
are, you know, they're just out of line when you
compare the state of Wisconsin to a lot of other
states across the country. >> I see that green Bay
schools will not go to referendum on April 7th,
but is looking at a deficit and will seek one in
November. Why is this the same all over Wisconsin?
>> Well, I think you referenced, you know, the
school funding formula really is broken in the
state of Wisconsin and has been broken for some time.
Green Bay Area Public Schools is also involved in
a lawsuit that Law Forward is bringing forward with
some other school districts across the state to
essentially make that case to our our, our courts and
ultimately probably to our state Supreme Court to say
that, you know, we have a our kids and our residents
have a constitutional right to a sound basic education
in the state of Wisconsin. And, and we don't feel as
though I don't feel. And I think a lot of people don't
feel that the state is meeting its obligation in
that regard. >> How well do these
explanations resonate with your taxpayers?
>> I think people appreciate it. You know,
nobody ever really likes paying a property tax bill,
but they want to know where those funds are going. And
so when this was brought forward to our common
council, that really was the winning argument. It's
something that our public school district has been
calling for for several years. Our previous council
shot it down. This council moved it forward and
allowed us to work with the Department of Revenue, with
our county treasurer to figure out exactly, you
know, how we could place this information on the
bill. But, you know, for green Bay area taxpayers,
$14 million is going for this purpose, just under 10
million for the City of Green Bay proper. So that's
a big number. You break it down to the average
homeowner, you know, $300,000 home. I think
that's about $270 going for for this, this voucher
program. >> So again, I was going to
back up and suggest that what you're talking about
there is the line item of the voucher schools on on
the property tax bill. And again in your mind, why is
that important to delineate? >> Well, again, this was
something that our school district felt very strongly
about for, for some time. They brought it to our
common council. And we just felt like transparency is
really the best answer here. I think a lot of people
assume public dollars are going to public schools.
When you show this to them, it tends to to raise some
questions. But even if you're an advocate of of
private voucher schools, you know, I think this
enables one to, to make that argument, you know,
the system that we have in place is the one that
voucher advocates have asked for at the state of
Wisconsin. And so if they're not comfortable
with it, you know, they should bring forward an
alternate way of funding education in the state of
Wisconsin. And and I know that, you know, public
school advocates have been doing that for some time.
And we're certainly looking forward to seeing how that
lawsuit moves forward and how the legislature
responds to this debate in the next session.
>> Meanwhile, it looks like green Bay schools will be
even worse off deficit wise in the 2728 school year
when your last referendum money runs out. What kind
of cost cutting measures have your schools had to
undergo? Do you know, significant?
>> You know, just over the last few years, numerous
schools have been closed in the district. Now, some of
that is related to demographic change that
we're seeing in cities across the state of
Wisconsin and nation are are really seeing. But the
way that that vouchers are funded, you know,
exacerbates this funding crunch for our districts.
And so even more hard questions are going to have
to be asked, not just in this budget cycle, but as
you said, in years to come where that deficit gets
even larger and worse. >> And it's my
understanding that the caps on the voucher program come
off soon, correct? >> Yeah. I mean, that's my
understanding too. You know, obviously not a not a state
policy maker these days, but that's my recollection
as well that in 26, 27, you know, that that number
actually, you know, gets removed. So we've already
seen, I think, a 900% increase in the levy growth
that that is devoted to voucher school spending
here in the district over the last ten years. So you
can, you know, if we continue on that trajectory,
it's really just not sustainable.
>> All right. Well, we will be watching the referendum
results as they come in on April 7th and be looking